RMAF 2013: Sony
More impressive was their smaller room, in which the speakers were changed to their smaller SS-NA2ES ($10,000), and the Pass products were replaced with Sony’s new TA-A1ES, 80 watt integrated amplifier ($2,000). The resulting system offered performance far too close to the Pass system for comfort.
The first-blush impression from both rooms is that Sony’s new electronics err more on the side of easy-listening omission than revealing exotica. While the dynamics and detail offered had little to do with what we think of as mid-fi, the tonal balance and forgiving nature of the sound were more comfortingly euphonic than the starkly revealing, third-party kit that Sony has been using recently.
Scot’s already covered Sony’s real effort to show willing down in CanJam, with a table full of sub-grand electronics and $300 headphones. Everything on offer was high-bitrate and dsd capable. Everything on offer was intuitively easy to use. Everything sounded pretty decent for the price. And, of course, everything on offer shared that Sony house sound.
I may not yet quite trust the idea that Sony is back — I’ve heard that story too many times to be too optimistic — but what Sony is showing off is the kind of kit that is sorely missed in today’s marketplace. We’ve spent too long being forced to choose between either Big Box Crap and unknown exotica. Sony’s name recognition and engineering seem on track to give back to us that long-missed bridge between those two categories.
I honestly hope that Sony really is back. I hope that their dark decade of utter uselessness is over. If this new product line is any indication of the future, that hope might not be too misplaced.
With many Hi-Res FLAC files and many SACD’s, I had planned to add HAP-Z1ES to my component rack above my XA5400ES, Sony’s previous ES source component. The XA5400ES was only available in black. The HAP-Z1ES is only available in silver. Nice going Sony!
..and no, I’m not a rip my SACD layer from my discs with a PS3 and ancillary software. Some audio system owners have all-black or all-silver components and don’t mix ‘n’ match the Sony way.